II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1017 

To amend the Federal Power Act to improve the siting of interstate electric 

transmission facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 21, 2015 

Mr. HEINRICH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Power Act to improve the siting 

of interstate electric transmission facilities, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SITING OF INTERSTATE ELECTRIC TRANS4 MISSION FACILITIES. 

5 Section 216 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 

6 824p) is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 216. SITING OF INTERSTATE ELECTRIC TRANS8 MISSION FACILITIES. 

9 ‘‘(a) POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States 

10 that the national interstate transmission system should be 


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1 guided by the goal of maximizing the net benefits of the 

2 electricity system, taking into consideration— 

3 ‘‘(1) support for the development of new, clean4 er power generation capacity, including renewable 

5 energy generation located distant from load centers; 

6 ‘‘(2) opportunities for reduced emissions from 

7 regional power production; 

8 ‘‘(3) transmission needs driven by public policy 

9 requirements established by State or Federal laws 

10 (including regulations); 

11 ‘‘(4) cost savings resulting from— 

12 ‘‘(A) reduced transmission congestion; 

13 ‘‘(B) enhanced opportunities for 

14 intraregional and interregional electricity 

15 trades; 

16 ‘‘(C) reduced line losses; 

17 ‘‘(D) generation resource-sharing; and 

18 ‘‘(E) enhanced fuel diversity; 

19 ‘‘(5) reliability benefits, including satisfying re20 liability standards and guidelines for resource ade21 quacy and system security; 

22 ‘‘(6) diversification of risk relating to events af23 fecting fuel supply or generating resources in a par24 ticular region; 


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1 ‘‘(7) the enhancement of competition in elec2 tricity markets and mitigation of market power; 

3 ‘‘(8) the ability to collocate facilities on existing 

4 rights-of-way; 

5 ‘‘(9) competing land use priorities, including 

6 land protected under Federal or State law; 

7 ‘‘(10) the requirements of section 217(b)(4); 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(11) the contribution of demand side manage10 ment (including energy efficiency and demand re11 sponse), energy storage, distributed generation re12 sources, and smart grid investments. 

13 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 ‘‘(1) HIGH-PRIORITY REGIONAL TRANSMISSION

15 PROJECT.—The term ‘high-priority regional trans16 mission project’ means an overhead, submarine, or 

17 underground transmission facility, including conduc18 tors or cables, towers, manhole duct systems, reac19 tors, capacitors, circuit breakers, static VAR com20 pensators, static synchronous compensators, power 

21 converters, transformers, synchronous condensers, 

22 braking resistors, and any ancillary facilities and 

23 equipment necessary for the proper operation of the 

24 facility, that is selected in a regional transmission 

25 plan for the purposes of cost allocation under Order 


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1 Number 1000 of the Commission (or any successor 

2 order), including an interregional project selected 

3 under that plan. 

4 ‘‘(2) INDIAN LAND.—The term ‘Indian land’ 

5 means land— 

6 ‘‘(A) the title to which is held by the 

7 United States in trust for an Indian tribe or in8 dividual Indian; or 

9 ‘‘(B) that is held by an Indian tribe or in10 dividual Indian subject to a restriction by the 

11 United States against alienation or encum12 brance. 

13 ‘‘(3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ 

14 means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other orga15 nized group or community, including any Alaska Na16 tive village or regional or village corporation (as de17 fined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Na18 tive Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), 

19 which is recognized as eligible for the special pro20 grams and services provided by the United States to 

21 Indians because of their status as Indians. 

22 ‘‘(c) SITING.— 

23 ‘‘(1) PURPOSES.—The purpose of this sub24 section is to ensure that high-priority regional transVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:37 Apr 28, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1017.IS S1017

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1 mission projects are in the public interest and ad2 vance the policy established under subsection (a). 

3 ‘‘(2) STATE REVIEW OF PROJECT SITING.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No developer of a 

5 high-priority regional transmission project may 

6 seek a certificate for construction under sub7 section (d) unless the developer first seeks au8 thorization to construct the high-priority re9 gional transmission project under applicable 

10 State law concerning authorization and routing 

11 of transmission facilities. 

12 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL AUTHORITY.—The Com13 mission may authorize, in accordance with sub14 section (d), construction of a high-priority re15 gional transmission project that the Commis16 sion finds to be required by the present or fu17 ture public convenience and necessity and in ac18 cordance with this section if— 

19 ‘‘(i) a State— 

20 ‘‘(I) fails to approve construction 

21 and authorize routing of a high-pri22 ority regional transmission project not 

23 later than 1 year after the date the 

24 applicant submits a completed appli25 cation for authorization to the State; 


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1 ‘‘(II) rejects or denies the appli2 cation for a high-priority regional 

3 transmission project; 

4 ‘‘(III) authorizes the high-pri5 ority regional transmission project 

6 subject to conditions that unreason7 ably interfere with the development of 

8 a high-priority regional transmission 

9 project contrary to the purposes of 

10 this section; or 

11 ‘‘(IV) does not have authority to 

12 approve the siting of the high-priority 

13 regional transmission project; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) the developer seeking a certifi15 cate for construction under subsection (d) 

16 does not qualify to apply for State author17 ization to construct a high-priority regional 

18 transmission project because the developer 

19 does not serve end-users in the State. 

20 ‘‘(d) CONSTRUCTION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATE.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An applicant for a 

23 high-priority regional transmission project may 

24 apply to the Commission for a certificate of 

25 public convenience and necessity with respect to 


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1 construction of the high-priority regional trans2 mission project only under a circumstance de3 scribed in subsection (c)(2)(B). 

4 ‘‘(B) FORM.—The application for a certifi5 cate shall be made in writing in such form and 

6 containing such information as the Commission 

7 may by regulation require. 

8 ‘‘(C) HEARING.—On receipt of an applica9 tion under this paragraph, the Commission— 

10 ‘‘(i) shall provide public notice and op11 portunity for hearing; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) may approve (with or without 

13 conditions) or disapprove the application, 

14 in accordance with paragraph (2). 

15 ‘‘(D) ADMINISTRATION.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commission 

17 shall act as the lead agency for purposes of 

18 coordinating all applicable Federal author19 izations and related environmental reviews 

20 for a high-priority regional transmission 

21 project under this section. 

22 ‘‘(ii) COORDINATION.—To the max23 imum extent practicable, the Commission 

24 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(I) coordinate the Federal au2 thorization and related environmental 

3 review process with any Indian tribe, 

4 multistate entity, or State agency re5 sponsible for conducting any separate 

6 permitting or environmental review of 

7 a high-priority regional transmission 

8 project; and 

9 ‘‘(II) ensure timely and efficient 

10 review and permit decisions. 

11 ‘‘(iii) TIMELINE.—The Commission, 

12 in consultation with the applicable agencies 

13 described in clause (ii)(I) and consistent 

14 with applicable law, shall establish a co15 ordinated project plan with milestones for 

16 all Federal authorizations described in 

17 clause (i). 

18 ‘‘(2) GRANT OF CERTIFICATE.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A certificate shall be 

20 issued to a qualified applicant for a certificate 

21 authorizing the whole or partial operation, con22 struction, acquisition, or modification covered 

23 by the application, if the Commission deter24 mines that the proposed operation, construc25 tion, acquisition, or modification, to the extent 


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1 authorized by the certificate, is required by the 

2 present or future public convenience and neces3 sity. 

4 ‘‘(B) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Com5 mission shall have the power to attach to the 

6 issuance of a certificate under this paragraph 

7 and to the exercise of the rights granted under 

8 the certificate such reasonable terms and condi9 tions as the public convenience and necessity 

10 may require. 

11 ‘‘(C) RECORD OF STATE PROCEEDING.— 

12 Any party, including the State, to a State pro13 ceeding in which an application for a high-pri14 ority regional transmission project was rejected 

15 or denied may file with the Commission for its 

16 consideration any portion of the record of the 

17 State proceeding. 

18 ‘‘(D) PUBLIC CONVENIENCE AND NECES19 SITY.—In making a determination with respect 

20 to public convenience and necessity, the Com21 mission shall consider whether the facilities cov22 ered by an application are included in an Inter23 connection-wide transmission grid plan for a 

24 high-priority regional transmission project. 


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1 ‘‘(3) RIGHT OF EMINENT DOMAIN.—If any 

2 holder of a certificate issued under paragraph (2) 

3 cannot acquire by contract, or is unable to agree 

4 with the owner of property on the compensation to 

5 be paid for, the necessary right-of-way to construct, 

6 operate, and maintain the high-priority regional 

7 transmission project to which the certificate relates, 

8 and the necessary land or other property necessary 

9 to the proper operation of the high-priority regional 

10 transmission project, the holder may acquire the 

11 right-of-way by the exercise of the right of eminent 

12 domain in— 

13 ‘‘(A) the United States district court for 

14 the district in which the property is located; or 

15 ‘‘(B) a State court. 

16 ‘‘(4) FEDERAL, STATE AND TRIBAL REC17 OMMENDATIONS.—In granting a certificate under 

18 paragraph (2), the Commission shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) seek from Federal resource agencies, 

20 State regulatory agencies, and affected Indian 

21 tribes recommended mitigation measures, based 

22 on habitat protection, environmental consider23 ations, or cultural site protection; and 

24 ‘‘(B)(i) incorporate those identified mitiga25 tion measures as conditions to the certificate; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) if the Commission determines that a 

2 recommended mitigation measure is incon3 sistent with the purposes of this section or with 

4 other applicable provisions of law, is infeasible 

5 or not cost-effective, or for any other reason— 

6 ‘‘(I) consult with the Federal resource 

7 agency, State regulatory agency, and af8 fected Indian tribe to seek to resolve the 

9 issue; 

10 ‘‘(II) incorporate as conditions to the 

11 certificate such recommended mitigation 

12 measures as are determined to be appro13 priate by the Commission, based on those 

14 consultations and the record before the 

15 Commission; and 

16 ‘‘(III) if, after consultation, the Com17 mission does not adopt in whole or in part 

18 a recommendation of an agency or affected 

19 Indian tribe, publish a statement of a find20 ing that the adoption of the recommenda21 tion is infeasible, not cost-effective, or oth22 erwise inconsistent with this section or 

23 other applicable provisions of law. 

24 ‘‘(5) STATE OR LOCAL AUTHORIZATIONS.—An 

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1 section with respect to construction or modification 

2 of a high-priority regional transmission project in a 

3 State shall not be required to obtain a separate 

4 siting authorization from the State or any local au5 thority within the State. 

6 ‘‘(6) RIGHTS-OF-WAY OVER INDIAN LAND.— 

7 Notwithstanding paragraph (3), in the case of siting, 

8 construction, operation, and maintenance of a trans9 mission facility to be located on or over Indian land, 

10 a certificate holder under this section shall comply 

11 with the requirements of Federal law for obtaining 

12 rights-of-way on or over Indian land. 

13 ‘‘(e) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as specifically pro15 vided in this section, nothing in this section affects 

16 any requirement of an environmental or historic 

17 preservation law of the United States, including— 

18 ‘‘(A) the National Environmental Policy 

19 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

20 ‘‘(B) the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 

21 et seq.); or 

22 ‘‘(C) the National Historic Preservation 

23 Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.). 

24 ‘‘(2) STATE LAW.—Nothing in this section pre25 cludes any person from constructing or modifying 


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1 any transmission facility in accordance with State 

2 law. 

3 ‘‘(f) APPLICABILITY.— 

4 ‘‘(1) PROJECT DEVELOPERS.—Nothing in this 

5 section precludes the development, subject to appli6 cable regulatory requirements, of transmission 

7 projects that are not selected in a regional trans8 mission plan. 

9 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSIONS.—This section does not apply 

10 in the State of Alaska or Hawaii or to the Electric 

11 Reliability Council of Texas.’’. 

Æ 


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